Refuge

This blog is about my journey from novice writer to self-published Sci-Fi author. Come along with me and learn the science as I learn it, learn about my characters, and probably quite often just share my random thoughts.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Hi everyone! I wanted to make a note that this blog has moved to the following URL:

http://www.damonalan.com

See? That's me. Damon Alan.

Sadly, this site will be stagnant from now on. I know, I know, that's sad. But the other site gives me much more creative control! As of 6.24.15 I'm still updating content. But you're welcome to stop on by.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

It should come as no surprise that there are as many forms of science
fiction as there are science itself. We all think spaceships and
rayguns, but what about the TV show Helix? All modern day stuff except
for the biology.

That's sci-fi.

Or how about Jurassic Park? Paleontology, biology... as sci-fi.

Blade Runner? Set in the future, yes, with flying cars, a dark reality,
but also with biological science enough to create life in the form of
the replicants.

Even Isaac Asimov's Foundation is not just
space travel, it's also Hari Seldon and his ground breaking
psychological science, called Psychohistory.

Some people who
say they don't like science fiction might be really surprised to find
that they do like particular subsets of it. After all, what is The Hunt
for Red October, but military thriller with a twinge of sci-fi?
Magnetohydrodynamic drive indeed....

Saturday, March 21, 2015

If the kitchen isn't a mess, that is. If my daughters do their chores, the often get rewarded with delicious food.

Let me share a fabulous recipe.

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Get your non-stick muffin pan. Spray it with cooking spray or even better coat it with butter.

Mix up eggs as if you were going to scramble them. One per muffin tin hole you plan to use.

Fill
the muffin pan with anything you might use in an omelet. Ham, sausage
bits, cheeses of your choice, mushrooms, onions, peppers, etc. Fill them
about halfway full.

Pour the egg mixture
in on top until the muffin cup is 95% full. I mix my eggs in a 4 cup
measuring cup because it makes pouring them out easy. If you plan on
adding salt and or pepper to the mix, add it to the eggs and mix it in
for consistency. I often put in a couple of tablespoons of hot sauce
for a great kick. You could also mix in some salsa. Depending on how
much you use, you might leave out an egg or two so you don't have too
much for the pan.

Once that's all done, sprinkle real bacon bits on the top.

Then cook for 25 minutes. The eggs will look like muffins, even rising to that muffin shape.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

This
is what happens when you stuff 50 million people into an area with the
water supply for 10 million. Colorado is probably going to experience
the same someday, because I think I know full well where all these
people are going to want to go once they're done screwing up their state
as bad as it can possibly be screwed.

The sad thing is that
this is preventable. Nuclear powered desalinization could provide all
the water this state needs, not to mention Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,
Utah, Nevada, etc. Thorium, not uranium. Humans have a habit of
destroying things and moving on. We in the USA like to think we're
enlightened, and Californians are some of the worst in that type of
arrogance. This isn't about global warming, because regardless of how you believe on that issue, global warming has become more religion than science. This is about foolish population practices. How
environmentally friendly is it going to be when CA is importing billions
and billions of plastic encased water bottles?

We have the
technology to make the Southwest a paradise. Instead we build fountains
in the desert and suck all the water out of the ground until there is
nothing left but dust. What took millions of years to fill and stabilize
we've destroyed in a century. Funny thing is we're inviting more people
into this ignorance, even as we don't have the resources to provide for
those that are already here. But that's about voting trends, not about
human life.

I do feel sorry for California, but in the same
sense I'd feel sorry for a disabled person beating their head on the
wall when left on their own to do so. I can only assume California
suffers some sort of mass mental illness that has created this mess. Electing movie stars (Ahnold!)
and known idiots like Jerry Brown over and over are proof that there
should be standards for allowing people to vote.

I believe this
is how republics fall. This is how the Romans fell. They elected people
who spent them into debt and gave charity through redistribution until
there was no incentive left to innovate or produce.

I'm not
saying nature isn't partially to blame, drought sucks. But it's also a
fact that it happens. Dust Bowl anyone? For Californians not to see that
and make plans to prevent something similar where they live is just the
worst.

Like I said. We have and had the technology. Have had
it for 30 years. We built the Hoover Dam, but we can't build
desalinization plants? It might have happened but the same hippies that
are now going to drink dust were 100% opposed to anything nuclear
because they're too stupid to be entrusted with long term policy. Yet
entrust them CA did and now they reap the rewards.

I feel sad as
I look at CA's bloody forehead. And even more sad when I realize I'll
probably be moving out of the state I love when all the fools who ruined CA move to CO.

Some days I wonder if we'll make it to the stars. Then there are other days when I look at the greatness we're accomplishing and realize we will, if we stop doing things the California way.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

I'm not sure what went down exactly, but I think it was my OCZ 128GB SSD that cost me an arm and a leg 4 years ago. I guess getting that lifespan out of what was essentially new tech at that time isn't too bad. So, since the computer was down, I decided to upgrade. I guess down isn't exactly the right word. It was VERY unstable. So much you couldn't do anything because any moment it was going to crash. That's essentially down.

Maybe I've been lucky. Every other time in my life I've put a computer together, it basically went as planned and it fired right up. Maybe a small hitch here and there, but nothing like this time.

I have Samsung SH-S223 DVD writers. Two of them. My new motherboard seemed to hate them like my 70 year old Mom hates gangsta rap. It took me a long time to figure out who wasn't getting along, however. Two days, in fact.

If I booted from the old SSD in AHCI mode, the computer would barely get to the Windows logo and hit the blue screen of death. If I booted in IDE mode, it would boot all the way but the DVD writers wouldn't be recognized by the bios. Which is a problem if you need to load in new software for your new motherboard including the drivers that will let it get to the internet so you can get to the most current drivers. Not to mention an operating system to run the computer at all. I had no way to load Win 7 to my new SSD, a Crucial 500GB monster.

Eventually I figured out what the problem was. Bought 1 HP dvd1265 to replace the 2 Samsungs, and everything booted up fine under AHCI. Go figure. I was able put Win 7 on the new SSD and the computer is running great.

I reused my old case, power supply, and 1TB Seagate HD. I think the entire upgrade wound up costing me $780, but that's because I got the motherboard for $10 after I bought the CPU at Microcenter. The CPU was on sale as well, for $199. That's crazy. I splurged on the graphics card because of the savings on the rest.

It all runs like a top now.

But then you remember. I have to reinstall 4 years of my life to this new machine. Which is happening, but just as I need it. Firefox over IE. Thunderbird. Office 2007. Yes, that still works great, get it if you get a deal. Scrivener for writing. Aeon Timeline for any plotting. Steam for games.

My advice to any of you out there that maintain your machine: If you don't have a cloud service to back up your important files, DO THIS RIGHT NOW. I use Dropbox (www.dropbox.com) and they give you 2GB for free. I have iCloud too, another 5GB free. I store all my art and writing at dropbox, all my photos and other stuff at iCloud.

So anyway, that's why no updates.

I'm really excited about getting back to work on my books. I got a smoking good review on Amazon this week, and I'm fired up. The Anvil of Dust and Stars continues to do better than I'd dreamed. Now to use it as inspiration to continue.

About Me

Hi, I'm Damon. I'm a housedad who also dabbles in all the fine things I list as an interest. I'm the father of three fine young ladies, each of whom is brilliant. I'm married to a fantastic woman who desires that I chase my dreams. So the hunt is on. I am working on building a cabin out of shipping containers, I have a 1989 Mercedes 560SL that I feel like I'm working on WAY too much, and I love to ride ATVs in Pike National Forest. I love target shooting, but I don't hunt. I suppose I might if I was hungry enough, but generally I'm a live and let live sort of guy. The profile image I'm using is a photograph of one of my metal sculptures.